Typewriting machine



Jan.a 15, 1924.

A. E. HOWELL TYPEWRITING MACHINE Filed Feb. 27, 1920 s Sheets-Sheet 1Jan 15, 1924.

A. E. HOWELL TYPEWRITING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheei- 2 Filed Feb. 2'7 1920Jan. 15,

A. E. 'HO'WELL TYPEWRITING MACHINE s Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Feb. 27. 1920m y m WW7 I n W. J f 4 w 7 f Patented Jan. 15, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR E. HOWELL, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO UNDERWOOD TYPE-WRITER COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION 01? DELAWARE.

TYPEWRITING MACHINE Application flled February 27, 1920. Serial No.861,783.

To all whom it mag concem:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR E. HOWELL, a citizen of the United States,residing in Brooklyn Borough, in the county of Kings, city and State ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inTypewriting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to typewriting' machines, and is herein disclosedas applied to an Underwood standard typewriting machine adapted to writeleaders or rows of dots, stars, dashes or underlining characters,without the necessity of separately and manually actuating the properkey-lever for each dot or dash or other character of the row.

According to the present invention, the usual key or keys for typing thedesired character may be actuated as usual in ordinary writing; but,when it is desired to write a leader or row of the characters, afinger-piece may be depressed to make effective connections which willoperate the desired leader-type by any suitable source of power.

' As herein disclosed, the usual key-levers of the typewriting machinewhich are used to type these characters may be provided with tails ordevices, which are normally out of the way of power-driven actuatingmembers, but which may be selectively operated by said members throughthe source of In'the form of the invention herein, illustrated, thesource ofpower is shown as a ower.

shaft, comprising star-wheels forming the operating members for thekey-levers andactuate in this manner, a single star-wheelmay be adaptedto beshifted to any one of a plurality of positions, to selectivelyactuate different key-levers. For determining which kcy-lever shall bethus actuated, there may be provided a plurality of finger-pieces orpush-keys, which are adapted to shift the star-wheels or members, theconnections bemg such that, when a wheel or member is shlfted, itremains shifted until the pushkey which shifted it is returned to normalpositlon.

Instead of having a separate latch for ea ch of the star-wheel-shiftingkeys, each shifting key may shift its wheel by a cam, comprising a dwellat the end, with the result that when the cam has once shifted thewheel, the wheel remains in its shifted pOSitlon until a returningfinger-piece, common to all of said shifting keys, is actuated andreturns the actuated one to normal position. Other features andadvantages will herelnafter appear.

In theaccompanying drawings,

Figure 1 is a sectional side view of an Underwood standard typewritingmachine,

showing the present invention as applied thereto.

Figure 2 is afragmmtary plan view of parts of the machine, illustratingthe character-printing key-levers which are actuated 1n the mannerdescribed, and the connections for actuating them.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view of part of the cam for setting astar-wheel to actuate either the star-key or the period-key.

In the ,Underwood standard typewriting machine, character keys,including, the 6 key 10, the hyphen or star-key 11, the period-key 12,and other character keys 13. when depressed, carry down their respectivekeylevers 14, to swing bell-crank sub-levers 15, thereby rockingtype-bars 16 upwardly and rearwardly, so that lower-case type 17 orupper-case type 18 print upon the platen 19.

The platen, as usual, isjournaled in a shift-frame 20, which forms partof a travelin carriage 21, the carriage running on 'ralls 22 and 23, andthe shift-frame being v carriage, by the escapement-wheel 29 in theusual manner.

If it is desired to actuate the hyphen-key 11, to Write a leader or rowof hyphens, a hyphen-shifting-key 30 maybe pressed rearwardly until thetypists finger is flush with the front of a front plate 31, fast to thetypewriter frame 32. When the hyphenshifting-keyBO is thus pressedrearwardlyy its stem 33 rocks rearwardly a rockarm 34, fast upon arock-shaft 35, which is ]ournaled in the brackets 36 fast to the machineframe,

thereby causing a rock-arm 37 on said shaft to slide a star wheel 38along its shaft 39, it being slidab'ly splined thereon by a key 40.

This carries the star-wheel 38 above a C- shaped arm 41, fast to anddepending from the lever 41 ofthe hyphen-key, so that a roller 42 onsaid arm rests in the depression 43 between two teeth of the star-wheel.Turning the shaft 39 then causes the roller 42 to ride up on the facesof the teeth 44 of the star-wheel, one after another, thereby drawingdownward the C-shaped arm 41 re peatedly, to actuate its key-lever 41precisely as if it were actuated by the touch of the 'typistZshfinger.The faces of the teeth 44 thus play the part of operating cams.

For turning the shaft 39, there may be provided upon it a spur-pinion45, meshing with an idle pinion 46, which, in turn,

meshes with a driving pinion 47, herein shown as fast to a hand-crank48, journaled upon a stub-shaft 49 on the side of the machine frame,near enou h the front oft-he machine to be convenlently reached andactuated. w

The star-wheel 38 remains in engagement with the roller 42, because theshifting connections are so provided as to efl'ect this result. For thispurpose, the connections for shifting the star-wheel '38 include acam-member 50, pi-votally attached to the rock-arm 37 by a shoulderedscrew 51, said cam-member comprising an opening or fork 52 in anextension which straddles the shaft the hub 54 to the. Figure 5position,

pressed, the cam-member 50 was drawn.

forward, so that the cam-face53 thereon, engaging the hub 54' of itsstar-wheel,

cammed said' star-wheel to the right against the tension of the spring55, which encircles the shaft 39 and constantly tends to shift itsstar-wheel to the left clear of its C-shaped arm. The camming-member 50remained in its shifted position, because a dwell or shoulder'56 of thecam bore against an ad jacent end of the hub- 54, thus making itimpossible for the spring 55 to return the cam-member 50. To keep thecam-member 50 from being pressed to the left when it compresses thespring 55, the shaft 39 is provided with a collar 57 fast thereto andforming a bearing-member for the side of the cam-member 50.

After the typist has actuated the crankhandle 48 to print the desirednumber of .hyphens, the hyphen-shifting-key 30 is rewhich is formed as arock-arm fast upon a' shaft 59, rockable in a bracket 60, fast to theframe of the typewriting machine. Depression of the fingeriece 58 rocksthe bail 61 forwardly to its Flgure 1 and Figure 6 position, it havingbeen swung from that position when the hyphen-shifting-key wasdepressed. To enable the bail 61 to operate efliciently, it projectsupwardly and forwardly adjacent a lug 62 on the rockarm 34, which servesas a bearing surface for the bail 61. Depression of the finger piece 58swings the bail 61 forwardl and the rock-arm 34 forwardly, and roc s.the

shaft 35 to swing the rock-arm 37 rearwardly, thus carryin thecam-member 50 backwardly to the Flgure 2 position, permitting the spring55to carry the star-wheel clear of its C-shaped member. 1 If it isdesired to type a leader or row 0 periods, a period-shifting-key 63 maybe pressed rearwardly to rock rearwardly a second rock-arm 64 fast uponthe shaft 35,

and, since the rock-arm 64 is shorter than the rock-arm 34, the travelof its key 63, be-

fore coming flush with the plate 31, pro-.

duces a. greater rotation of the shaft 35 and thereby shifts thecam-member 50., further forward, causing the cam 53 to slide the hub 54to the Figure 4 position, and then slide it further to the Figure 5position, in

which position the second cam-face 65 on the cam-member 50 has shiftedthe hub 54 to the right far enough to bring the starwheel 38 above aC-shaped member 66, which is fast to and depends from the keylever 67 ofthe period-key 12. The cammember 50 is held in this position. because' asecond dwell 68 on it is brought: against To. print a period in Lmosttypewriti ng machines, it is necessary to actuate the casepresses the'case-shift-key 69, and then turnsthe handle 48, after having pressedthe pe shift-key 69, to lift the platen so that thesome riod-shifting ke63, as above described. The typist usual y need not hold down theshift-key 69, because it is usually automatically locked down by theshift-lock 70. After the desired periods have been printed, the typistreleases the shift-lock 70 in the usual manner, and proceeds to do therest of the typing, after having actuated the returning fin er-piece 58to cause its bail 61 to return t e period-key 63 precisely as itreturned the hyphen-shifting-key 30. The period-shifting-key 63 isprovided with a forked stem 71 like the forked stem 33, thus permittingeither key to be depressed without interference by the other key.

When thet pist desires to print a leader or row of un erscore characters(which are customarily printed by the uppercase of the 6 key 10), the tpist depresses an underscore-shifting-key 2, causlng'its forked Y stem73 to swing rearwardly a rock-arm 74 fast upon a rock-shaft 75, whlch,like the rockshaft 35,is journaled in thebrackets 36, and which isadapted toshift the star-wheel 76 to a position overlying aC-shapedmember 77, like the C-shaped members 41 and 66, but fast upon the; lever78 of the 6 key 10. This C-shaped member 77, like the C-shaped members41 and 66, is provided with a roller 42, with the result that when thecrank 48 is turned, its star-wheel 76 repeatedly actuates the 6 key, andcauses said key to print the underscoring characters, provided thecase-shaft-key 69 has been actuated as described above.

is rocked, a rock-arm 80 thereon draws for-,

- ward the cam-member 79 along the face of the/collar 81, and cams thestar-wheel 76 to the right, to the desired position by thrusting on itshub 82 against the tension of its spring 83. The spring 83 may be likethe spring 55, except that it has a less throw.

The rock-arm 80 is connected to the cammember 79 by a shouldered screw84. The

rock-arms 37 and 80 are herein illustrated as behind the usual comb 85,which serves to guide the key-levers 14', and the shafts 3.5 and 75 lieabove the key-levers.

To enable the device to be readily attached to existing machines, thebrackets 36 and 60 may be made fast to the outside of the frame 86 byscrews 87, adapted to be threaded into suitable openings in the frame.In order to hold the brackets steady, each one has a turned-over face88, which is provided with two screw-holes 89, so that it may receivetwo of the screws 87.

In order to minimize the likelihood of interference of the C-shaped arm.41 with the adjacent arm 66,'the arms may be fast upon the outeropposite sides of their respective key-levers.

Each shifting key 30, 63 and 72 may slide in a guide sleeve 90projecting rearwardly from the plate 31, and be provided with a collar91, to limit its forward throw at the actuation of the finger-piece 58.The shafts 35 and 75 may be journaled in turned-over ends 92 of thebrackets 36, and be held against sliding therein by headed screws 93threaded into the ends of the shafts and having heads overlying the ends92.

In order to make sure that the star-wheels 38, 76, are in such aposition that the rolls 42 will slip into them in the manner describedabove, there is provided fast on the shaft 39 a detent star-wheel 94,which is normally held by a detent 95 in such position that thestar-wheels 38, 7 6, are properly positioned. In order to enable thecrankhandle 48 to rotate the shaft 39 and its starwheels withoutinterference from the detent 95, said detent is formed as the end of adepending extension 96 fast to the bail 61,

the connections being such that whenever the finger-piece 58 stands inits Figure 6 position the detent 95 is effective on the star-wheel 94.The connections are such, however, that when any one of theshifting-keys 30, 63 or 72 is actuated, the swinging of the bail 61thereby carrice the detent 95 clear of the star-wheel 94 and permits itand its shaft 39 to rotate freel To make sure that the detent 95 bringsthe shaft 39 to the proper position, it is provided with camming faces97 which are adapted to enter between the teeth of the star-wheel 94 andcam it to the pro r position.

ariations may be resorted to within the scope of the invention, andportions of the im rovements may be used without others.

aving thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a typewriting machine, in combination, a plurality ofleader-types, leadertype-actuating keys, means operable continuously foractuating any one of said leadertypes repetitiously to t pe a leaderacross a work-sheet, but norma ly ineffective therefor, and selectingmeans settable at will, independentl of the leader-type-actuating keys,to ren er said actuating means effective to operate a selected type.

2. In a typewritin machine, the combination with a plura ity oftype-operating key-levers, of a shaft adjacent said levers and normallyat rest, an operating arm fast on one of said levers, and an interponentnormally clear of said arm but adapted to be shifted to enable the shaftwhen rotated to operatethe key-lever.

3. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a plurality oftype-operating key-levers, of a shaft adjacent said levers, a pluralityof star wheels onsaid shaft adapted to actuate said levers, meansnormally holding said wheels clear of the levers in ineffectivepositions, and means for selectively moving said wheels to effectivepositions, to enable them to selectively actuate their levers at therotation of the shaft.

4. In a typewriting'machine, the combination with a type-operatingkey-lever, of a shaft adjacent said lever, a star wheel. adjacent saidlever, an extension of said lever adapted to be struck by the teeth ofsaid wheel to actuate the key-lever, a spring normally holding the wheelclear of the extension, and a finger-piece depressible to move the wheelto effective position against the tension of the spring:

5. In a t-ypewriting machine, the combination with a type-operatingkey-lever, of a shaft adjacent said lever, a star wheel adjacent saidlever, an extension. of said lever adapted to be struck by the teeth ofsaid wheel to actuate the key-lever, a spring normally holding the wheelclear of the extension, a cam adapted to be slid on said shaft to movethe wheel to effective position against the tension of the .spring, adwell on the cam adapted to hold the wheel in its shifted position, anda finger-piece depressible to actuate the cam.

6. In a typewritingmachine, the combination with a plurality oftype-operating key-levers, of a shaft adjacent said levers, a star wheeladjacent said levers, an extension of each of said levers adapted to bestruck by the teeth of said wheel to actuate the key-lever, a springnormally holding the wheel clear of the extensions, a cam adapted toslide on said shaft, and a plurality of dwells on said cam to enable thewheel to be arrested at either of a plurality of positions, to enable itto co-operate with either of the key-levers.

7. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a plurality oftype-operating key-levers, of a shaft adjacent said levers, star wheelsupon said shaft adapted to operate various key-levers, means holdin saidwheels at normally ineffective positions, and means for selectivelymoving a star wheel to enable it to operate either of a plurality ofsaid levers.

In a typewriting machine, the combination with a plurality oftype-operating keylevers, of a shaft adjacent said levers, star wheelsupon said shaft adapted to operate various key-levers, means holdingsaid wheels at normally ineffective positions, a

plurality of shafts parallel to the first-named shaft, shifting devicesfor said wheels upon said plurality of shafts, and finger-pieces forindividually rotating said lurality of shafts to individually shift saidwheel s.

9. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a plurality oftype-operating keylevers, of a shaft adjacent said levers, star wheelsupon said shaft adapted to operate various key-levers, means holdin saidWheels at normally ineffective positions, a plurality of shafts parallelto the first-named shaft, shifting devices for said wheels upon saidplurality of shafts, finger-pieces for individually rotatin saidplurality of shafts to individually shi said wheels, and connectionswhereby a plurality of said fingerpieces variably rotate a shaft toenable a single wheel to selectively actuate any of a plurality ofkey-levers.

10. In a typewriting machine, the combination with type-operatingkey-levers, of i a transverse shaft adjacent said levers, op-

erating cams shiftable along said shaft from normally ineffectivepositions to effective ositions, a cam member slidable transversey ofthe shaft, adapted to cam an operating cam to effective position, and afinger-piece for operating said cam member. 11. In a typewritingmachine, the combination with type-operating key-levers, of a transverseshaft adjacent said levers, operating cams shiftable alon said shaftfrom normally ineffective positions to effective positions, a cam memberslidable transversely of the shaft, adapted to cam an operating cam toeffective position, and slidable to,

another position to cam an operating cam to a second effective position,and separate finger-pieces adapted to selectively move the came memberto either position.

12. In a typewriting machine, the combination with type operatingkey-levers, of a transverse shaft adjacent said levers, operating camsshiftable along said shaft from normally ineffective positions toeffective positions, a cam member slidable transversely of the shaft,adapted to cam an operating cam to' effective position, an extension ofthe cam member engaging the transverse shaft for support, a secondtransverse wshaft, an arm fast on the second transverse shaft connectedto shift the cam member and support it, and means for rocking the secondshaft to shift the cam member.

13. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a plurality oftype-operatin key-levers, of a shaft transverse to 'sai levers, camm'ingdevices on the shaft for opcrating the levers, means normally holdingsaid devices in ineffective positions, a second shaft for making saiddevices effective, and

a plurality of shifting keys for variably r0- tating the second shaft.to determine on which of a plurality of key-levers the firstnamed shaftmay be effective through a levers, a plurality of star wheels on saidshaft, a C-shaped extension on each of said levers, means for separatelyshifting said Wheels on said shaft from a normally ineffective positionto an effective position to engage the teeth of a wheel with an exten- Ision, and means for rotating the shaft to actuate its lever by thewheel.

15. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a plurality oftype-operating key-levers, of a transverse shaft beneath said levers, asta wheel on said shaft, an extension of one lever extending below saidshaft and adapted to engage between the teeth of the wheel, and meansfor rotating the shaft to operate the lever.

16. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a plurality oftype-operating key-levers, of normally ineffective means for each leverfor repeatedly operating it', a shifting ke for each lever adaptedto'make its means effective, connections for holding said meanseffective when made effective by its key, and a finger-piece universalto said means for making them ineffective.

17. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a plurality oftype-operating levers, of a transverse shaft, separate means.

connected to said shaft for operating each type lever by the shaft, aplurality of second ary shafts, cam members moved by said secondaryshafts individually controlling the separate means, rock arms forseparately operating the secondaryshafts, shifting keys for the rockarms, a bail universal to the rock arms for returning to normal positionany means, and a finger-piece for actuating the bail.

18. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a plurality oftype-operating keys, of a shaft for operating said keys, normallyineffective devices whereb the shaft operates the keys, means fordifferentially positioning one of said devices to determine which key itshall operate, a rock shaft for s0 positioning it, a plurality of rockarms on the rock shaft, and shifting keys having a substantiallyidentical throw and operating upon said rock arms at different distancesfrom their rock shaft to vary its operation to differentially positionthe device controlled by it.

19. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a plurality oftypeoperating keys, of a shaft for operating said keys, normallyineffective devices whereby the shaft operates the keys, means fordifferentially positioning one of said devices to determine which key itshall operate, a rock shaft for so positioning it, a plurality of rockarms on the rock shaft, shifting keys having a substantially identicalthrow and operating upon said rock arms at different,

distances from their rock shaft to vary its operation to differentiallyposition the to the shaft to be shifted from an ineffective position toa position where it can operate a key, a spring encirclingsaid shaft-t0normally hold it ineffective, and a cam member adapted to be shiftedtransversely of the shaft to shift the star Wheel.

21.- In a typewritingmachine, incombination, a pluralityof'leader-types, leadertype-actua'ting keys, means for actuating any oneof said leader-types repetitiously to type a leader across a work-sheet,but normally ineffective therefor, and selecting means settable at willto render said actuating means effective to operate a selected type,said selecting means comprising a selector-key for each of said types.

22. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a plurality oftype-operating key-levers, of a shaft, means for rotating said shaft,means on said shaft to actuate said key-levers repeatedly when saidshaft is rotated, and means on said machine settable at will to positionthe actuating means on said shaft selectively to operate any of saidkey-levers.

23. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a plurality oftype-operating key-levers having extensions fixed thereto, of a shaft,means for rotating said shaft, means on said shaft adapted to engagesaid extensions to actuate said key-levers repeatedly when said shaft isrotated, and means on said machine settable at will to position theactuating means on said shaft selectively to engage any of saidextensions to operate the corresponding key-lever.

24. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a plurality oftype-operatmg key-levers, of a shaft adjacent said levers, means forrotating said shaft, a plurality of means on said shaft adapted toactuate said levers repeatedly when said shaft is rotated,

means normally holding said plurality of for selectively moving saidwheels to effective position in engagement with said extensions tooperate any desired lever, and means adapted to engage said shaft whensaid wheels are in ineffective position to properly position the shaftto enable the star-wheels fixed thereto to engage said extensionswithout encountering obstructions.

26. In a typewriting machine, the -com-. bination with a plurality oftype-operating key-levers having extensions fixed thereto, of a shaftadjacent said levers, means for rotating said shaft, a plurality ofstarwheels on said shaft adapted to engage said extensions to actuatesaid levers repeatedly when said shaft is rotated, means normally holdinsaid wheels in ineffective position clear 0 the extensions on saidlevers, means for selectively moving said wheels to effective positionin engagement with said extensions to operate any desired lever, andmeans adapted to engage said shaft when said wheels are in ineffectiveposition to properly position the shaft to enable the star-wheels fixedthereto to engage said extensions without encountering obstructions,said last-named means comprisin an additional star-wheel fixed to saidshaft. and a detent pivoted on said machine and adapted to engage saidadditional star wheel.

27. In a typewriting machine, in combination, leader-types, leader-typeactuating keys, and means for actuating any one of said leader-typesrepetitiously to type a leader across a work-sheet, said actuating meanscomprising a shaft, star-wheels, one for each key-lever, mounted on saidshaft to rotate therewith, arms, one on each of said key-levers, to beengaged by the corresponding star-wheels and operated thereby, each ofsaid arms and the associated star-wheel being normally disconnected, andselecting means, independent of the leader-type-actuating keys, toeffect an operative connection between any one of said arms and thecorresponding star-wheel.

ARTHUR E. HOWELL.

.Witnesses:

LEWIS E. WEBER, EpITH B. LIBBEY.

